Her Last Words

Happy Gryffin

Layndale nights were quite colder now that it was September, an entire hour had passed already since Anna had escaped from a new friend like Alice had been some kind of monster, a violinist was playing somewhere nearby and still there was no contact at all with Lockie Allyngard.

"Where are you?" Anna thought, still sitting alone on that shady wooden bench and very relieved to be relatively out of sight even though she was right at a lively downtown night- "It has been too long already! Lockie... Come on Hemlock, please reply!"

Anna tried again, and all over again, and yet her mind just kept getting blocked by whatever kind of magical defenses that the castle would be equipped with...

"Lockie! Where are you?!"

Anna waited for a little time in complete mental silence, and then she could hear in her mind something like the distant static of a TV, like perhaps she was getting some kind of answer after all. It was slow and weak at first, though the sound soon grew stronger, and then, to her great relief, she replied at last-

"Hey Coulthard" Lockie greeted Anna, speaking to her little friend from somewhere in the gardens of Queen Starlight's castle- "I've been here all day, I know! Please wait a little more... just one more rocket test and I'll be back with you, okay?"

"What happened?"

"We had another accident" Lockie explained, and even her mental voice sounded a little shaky as she recalled the events of earlier in that day- "Sometimes, I understand your father! We really shouldn't be working with this thing... and I don't blame Shadow either, she's great and everything but this substance... Sometimes I don't quite understand it either..."

Anna looked all around her after hearing that, and she thought of all these chill and happy Layndelites just living their lives and chatting and shopping and laughing, totally unaware that their Queen and her scientists were working in the nearby castle with a chemical weapon of unspeakable power.

What would they think if they knew about this? Would they just accept everything? In fact, what would the ordinary Somewherelsians think if they knew that Queen Starlight planned to annihilate Earth in order to start a happier world?

Who knows, perhaps Queen Starlight had good reasons to keep everything in secret...

"Please, be careful Lockie..."

"Yeah, everything's under control now" Lockie replied in a cheerful style, just hoping that Anna was not yet good enough in mental chatting to catch that cold and absolutely blatant lie- "Where are you?"

"I was at the park, I wanted to draw! It was great, but then... then this girl talked to me" Anna started, and she felt a bit dizzy again after thinking about Alice- "Why? I was leaving the park! She caught up, and talked and talked, and I... and I just ran for it..."

"A Layndale High girl, perhaps?"

"Yeah, that's what she said..."

"Look Anna, this was bound to happen" Lockie said, trying to sound comforting and, at the same time, make things clear to her friend once and for all- "You look so friendly! People will want to know you! That's all! Sure, you cannot communicate normally anymore, but that doesn't mean you can hide in your place for the rest of your life..."

"I can try..."

"When the time comes, you'll just mind talk to everyone and people will love you!"

"It hurts them, when I do that..."

"Anna, life goes on... no, please don't cry!"

"How am I going to live like this?"

"We'll see! For now, you have me..."